“Panetta believes there is strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June – before Iran enters what Israelis described as a “zone of immunity” to commence building a nuclear bomb,” Ignatius wrote.

Asked by journalists whether he disputes the report, Panetta said, “No, I’m just not commenting.”

He added, “What I think and what I view, I consider that to be an area that belongs to me and nobody else.”

He noted that Israel has stated publicly that it is considering military action against Iran, adding that US has “indicated our concerns.

Panetta, along with US President Barack Obama warned Israeli officials against opting for a military offensive in Iran, saying it would jeopardize the international sanctions program and other non-military efforts to stop Iran from crossing the nuclear “red line.”

Even so, Ignatius claimed that senior officials in the Obama administration have yet to decide how to respond if an Israeli military strike materializes.

The columnist states that “Israeli leaders are said to accept, and even welcome, the prospect of going it alone and demonstrating their resolve at a time when their security is undermined by the ‘Arab Spring’.”

Another strike in a few years

The Israeli scenario, according to Ignatius, is a five day limited offensive, followed by a UN-brokered ceasefire. The relatively light damage that is expected to be inflicted on Iranian nuclear facilities will require Israel to stage another offensive a few years down the line.

Ignatius notes that American officials see two possible options to dissuade Israel from attacking: Serious talks with Iran – including full access and supervision over its nuclear program – or increased US covert operations that will undermine the nuclear program to the extent that Israel is convinced an attack is no longer necessary.

However, such options might be in vein because Prime Minister Netanyahu has already made a decision to attack in the next six months, Ignatius claims.

By: Ynetnews.com – AP, Boaz Fyler and Shiri Hadar contributed to this report

Beersheba is first mentioned in Genesis chapter 26 with God’s revelation to the patriarchs. Its name is derived from the Hebrew word shevu’a (oath) or shiv’a (seven) as elaborated in Gen. 21:31 and 26:33. Beersheba symbolized the southern boundary of the Land of Israel, as in the phrase from Dan to Beersheba. (Judges 20:1; 1 Samuel 3:20; and 1 Kings 5:5)

Tel Sheva, the mound of Biblical Beersheba, is located in the northern Negev, several kilometers east of the present-day city of Be’er Sheva. The Arabic name of the mound, Tell es-Sab’a, preserves the biblical name; the archeological finds support its identification with Biblical Beersheba.

The ancient town was built on a low hill on the bank of a wadi (dry river-bed), which carries floodwater during the winter months. A close-to-the-surface aquifer along the wadi ensured the year-round supply of water.

A large area of the site was excavated between 1969 and 1976, producing several layers of the remains of settlement, including fortified towns of the early Israelite period and the monarchic period of Judah, covered by remnants of small fortresses dated from the Persian to the Roman periods.

The earliest remains of settlement at Beersheba are a number of rock-hewn dwellings (12th-11th centuries BCE) and a 20 m.-deep well supplying fresh water to the inhabitants of the first permanent unfortified settlement of Israelites of the Tribe of Simon. (Joshua 19:2)

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The List of the most educated Countries in the world:

1. Canada

2. Israel

3. Japan

4. USA

5. New Zealand.

6. South Korea

7. Norway

8. Britain

9. Australia

10. Finland
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Even after all the rain, however,Israel’s Mekorot national water company is still not pumping water out of the lake. Instead, the company is using reservoir, aquifer and reclaimed water during the winter months.

The waters of Lake Kinneret are still standing at more than four meters (13.1 feet) below its optimum level.

The normal surface level of the lake is at 214 metres (702 ft) below sea level, the lowest freshwater lake on Earth and the second-lowest lake in the world after the Dead Sea, a saltwater lake.

It will be cloudy with scattered showers in most areas across the country on Monday, with a risk of flash floods in eastern and southern streams, according to the National Meteorological Service.

Showers are expected to continue from time to time in the north on Tuesday, with gusty winds. Showers with scattered storms in the north and central parts of the country are in the forecast for Wednesday, with strong winds and snow predicted in the Mount Hermon area. Scattered showers and dropping temperatures are expected for the Negev.

Please join us in prayer for a continued rainy season in the Land of Israel!

The project, headed by Prof. Pini Gurfil of the aeronautics and space engineering faculty, is due to be unveiled officially next Monday at the Science and Technology Ministry’s International Ilan Ramon Memorial Space Conference at the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies in Herzliya. Representatives of space agencies and space researchers from around the world are due to attend.

“This is the first time in the world that scientists will attempt sending three satellites together in a controlled formation,” Gurfil said. “Until now, this has not been possible because of their size and weight and the problems of dispatching multiple satellites in a uniform formation and their remaining in space for a long time.”

The communications satellite construction will be launched in 2015. The Technion in Haifa has had much success in building satellites that are smaller than a refrigerator and thus more efficient and cheaper than devices built in the US and Europe.

The nano-satellites will try to receive signals at various frequencies from Earth and calculate the location of the transmission facility. Receiving signals in space from Earth with the help of a number of nano-satellites flying in a fixed arrangement is a new concept that has never been performed anywhere. If the experiment succeeds, said Gurfil, such satellites could be applied to locating missing persons or individuals in distress.

The project is aimed at proving that it is possible to hold tiny satellites in formation for a year as they pass 600 kilometers above the Earth. Each of the satellites will be built with a movement system that will help keep it together for a long period in space.

They will be built according to the standard CubeSat model whose parts will be put together by students of the Technion faculty. Each satellite will be constructed out of six cubes, each of them 10 centimeters cubed. Thus the whole structure will be 10 x 20 x 30 cm. in size. Measuring equipment, antennas, computer and control systems and navigating equipment will be attached. The programs and algorithms that manage the fight were developed in a Technion lab for space research. The nano-satellites will be sent off as an additional shipment on a rocket to be sent via Europe, Russia or India, the Haifa institute said.

Gurfil received a 1.5 million euro grant from the European Union a few months ago to carry out the project. He and his team of interdisciplinary researchers have already built a working model to overcome the problems resulting from the need to prevent the nano-satellites from getting too close or too far from each other. The parts must be able to communicate and function even when something goes wrong and to fix their relative position with a minimum of fuel so they can remain longer in space.

“If we succeed in proving that such a flying formation is possible, it will boost the development of very small satellites and technologies connected to miniaturization of electronic components, efficient processing and movement in space,” said Gurfil. “It would advance a variety of other civilian applications as well.”

Another target is to provide practical training for space engineers, and students for bachelor’s and advanced degrees will participate in examining areas connected to the project. Training and practical experience are vital for developing Israel’s future in the field, Gurfil said.

In July 1998, Technion aeronautical and space engineers and students dispatched the Gurwin-TechSAT-2 satellite, one of the smallest of its type in the world. It succeeded in staying in space and carrying out all its missions for 21 years. Built as a cube, with each side 54 cm. long, it weighed only 84 kg., significantly reducing its power consumption.

By Jerusalem Post – Judy Siegal-Itzkovich

Canadian foreign minister John Baird, visitng Israel this week, stressed his country’s strong support of Israel.

“Israel has no greater friend in the world than Canada,” Baird said at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial on Monday.

Why is loyalty such a critical attribute?  When is loyalty praiseworthy and when is it foolish?  Join Ari & Jeremy this week as they discuss how and where to place our loyalties during these confusing times.

Elie Weisel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate, published this piece in The International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times last year.

It was inevitable: Jerusalem once again is at the center of political debates and international storms. New and old tensions surface at a disturbing pace. Seventeen times destroyed and seventeen times rebuilt, it is still in the middle of diplomatic confrontations that could lead to armed conflict. Neither Athens nor Rome has aroused that many passions.

For me, the Jew that I am, Jerusalem is above politics. It is mentioned more than six hundred times in Scripture—and not a single time in the Koran. Its presence in Jewish history is overwhelming. There is no more moving prayer in Jewish history than the one expressing our yearning to return to Jerusalem. To many theologians, it IS Jewish history, to many poets, a source of inspiration. It belongs to the Jewish people and is much more than a city, it is what binds one Jew to another in a way that remains hard to explain. When a Jew visits Jerusalem for the first time, it is not the first time; it is a homecoming. The first song I heard was my mother’s lullaby about and for Jerusalem. Its sadness and its joy are part of our collective memory.

Since King David took Jerusalem as his capital, Jews have dwelled inside its walls with only two interruptions; when Roman invaders forbade them access to the city and again, when under Jordanian occupation, Jews, regardless of nationality, were refused entry into the old Jewish quarter to meditate and pray at the Wall, the last vestige of Solomon’s temple. It is important to remember: had Jordan not joined Egypt and Syria in the war against Israel, the old city of Jerusalem would still be Arab. Clearly, while Jews were ready to die for Jerusalem they would not kill for Jerusalem.

Today, for the first time in history, Jews, Christians and Muslims all may freely worship at their shrines. And, contrary to certain media reports, Jews, Christians and Muslims ARE allowed to build their homes anywhere in the city. The anguish over Jerusalem is not about real estate but about memory.

What is the solution? Pressure will not produce a solution. Is there a solution? There must be, there will be. Why tackle the most complex and sensitive problem prematurely? Why not first take steps which will allow the Israeli and Palestinian communities to find ways to live together in an atmosphere of security. Why not leave the most difficult, the most sensitive issue, for such a time?

Jerusalem must remain the world’s Jewish spiritual capital, not a symbol of anguish and bitterness, but a symbol of trust and hope. As the Hasidic master Rebbe Nahman of Bratslav said, “Everything in this world has a heart; the heart itself has its own heart.

Jerusalem is the heart of our heart, the soul of our soul.”

- Elie Wiesel

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